Related articles

Jones’s new play is set in rural Sussex in 1805 when England was under threat of invasion from Napoleon’s forces and the Quakers were the object of suspicion for their refusal to fight.

When Rachel invites Nathaniel, an army deserter, to become Adam’s apprentice, she discovers a yet more troubling silence as they make love without words.

Nathaniel meanwhile pays court to Tabitha, the elder’s daughter, and, to her dismay, Rachel is assigned to ascertain her “clearness” prior to marriage.

The ensuing revelations and recriminations threaten to tear the community apart, but their faith proves stronger than individual failings and the circle of prayer remains intact.

The Meeting, while sparely written, is rich in both irony (pacifist Adam makes money from carving the gravestones of dead soldiers) and resonance (Rachel declares it “the duty of women to heal the world”, a feminist message totally in line with traditional Quaker teaching).

Above all, it has a tenderness – almost a serenity – depressingly rare in contemporary drama.

Natalie Abrahami’s production beautifully matches the writing’s elegance, creating a series of telling images on Vicki Mortimer’s flexible circular set.

Lydia Leonard, Gerald Kyd and Olivia Darnley head an excellent cast.

Special mention must be made of Jean St Clair as Alice.

The moment when she finally finds her voice is heart-breaking.

Whereas Jones chooses her words with care, Eugene Ionesco throws them about with abandon.

Indeed, there are long stretches of his 1962 play Exit The King which seem to be the product of automatic writing.

Cirque du Soleil OVO: Stunning photos from the opening night

Thu, January 11, 2018

Cirque du Soleil OVO at London's Royal Albert Hall is a dazzling display that will thrill adults and kids alike

In the palace of a Ruritanian kingdom, which has been reduced to five square miles, two queens, a doctor, guard and cleaner await the imminent death of the king.

They exchange juvenile putdowns, repetitive repartee and truisms about the end of civilisation.

Not only is Meryn Peake’s Gormenghast Trilogy a far more subtle and profound portrait of a ruling class in terminal decline, but it’s hard to take seriously the fate of a king who has lived for centuries, can control the elements and has been responsible for the world’s greatest scientific and architectural achievements as well as the works of Homer and Shakespeare.

Then, 20 minutes from the end, both the play and Patrick Marber’s production achieve a remarkable transformation.

Indira Varma’s glacially glamorous queen guides Rhys Ifans’s clown-like king through the phases of death and the stage attains a stillness that almost matches that of The Meeting.